Earth Day 2012
       
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It’s Earth Day. And multiple stores like Amazon.ca and Amazon.com have set up shops dedicated to Nature themed and Eco-friendly products.
Being partial to green technology, I love browsing these shops to see the latest gadgets, to see how far consumer products have progressed. Many LED light bulbs There is some progress in regards to Li-ion batteries though ; I purchased an energy efficient media player Another major seller on Earth Day are documentaries. Though I love nature documentaries like “March Of The Penguins I prefer in-depth and productive films, that offer theoretical and hopefully viable solutions to today’s environmental issues. And when I do watch the National Geographic I’ve also recently encountered film company Amos TV, which produces scenic videos that stream to hotels, Google TV compatible devices and select Samsung televisions & Blu-ray players. Their high definition films are incredible and feature equally incredible instrumentals. And these films are of course available via their official site (AMOS TV – A New Experience in Ambient Media. By the way Alliance Films have released special versions of “Food Inc. Some proceeds from the sale of these films will be given to Earth Day Canada for their year round programs. |
New Listing Added
I’ve just added a rough listing for musical instruments, accessories and recording equipment to this blog and will be updating it as soon as possible.
It includes sources within and outside Canada.
Rogers Video Ends Renting Services
Rogers Video stores across Canada will no longer rent DVDs or Blu-ray discs tomorrow.
Starting this week this chain will offload their film stock at reduced prices leaving Canadian consumers with very limited options in regards to renting films.
Cable and satellite subscribers will continue being able to rent films on their digital boxes and Canadians with access to high speed connections have access to online film rental services like Cineplex, Cinemanow, iTunes, Netflix and Youtube. But it appears the mail services and kiosks are now the only viable options for people who do not have access to cable, satellite and high speed internet services.
Unfortunately the kiosk services offered by Zip and Best Buy are limited to major cities at the moment, though they will probably expand in response to the demand. And the cable, satellite and high speed internet options remain expensive.
The current rental fee for recent high definition releases on my digital cable service is $7.99. And if I were to rent these films online in 720p I would use an average of about 4 gigabytes worth of usage per film towards my usage limit.
I am hoping that the digital cable rental fee will be reduced in response to public demand. But at the moment I am also testing out The Movie Network and Moviepix as a cheaper alternative, though releases on The Movie Network still appear to be subjected to a considerable delay.
As it stands I appear to prefer Moviepix for the channel’s selection of classic films and will likely subscribe to this service until Bell’s Fibe TV service is introduced to my neighbourhood.
I will probably dabble in online film rentals, within strict limitations, and use Zip.ca‘s services as my main source for newer releases.
As previously reported on this blog, Zip will be expanding their kiosks. And I believe theater companies like Cineplex, Empire and AMC will eventually offer kiosk services in their locations in respond to the demand left by Roger Video‘s departure.
I am also hoping for a national expansion of the Best Buy branded kiosks to Best Buy and Mac’s locations through-out Canada.
Attention Mac Users : Update ASAP
A Russian web security firm has discovered a Mac Trojan that is disguised as a Adobe Flash update.
When installed this virus enables hackers to access passwords and other information typed into browsers and Skype.
Apple has issued an update in response to the Flashback Trojan on Tuesday. Removal instructions are also available from F-Secure.
Movies In The Cloud ?
iTunes have recently added movies to their cloud services in the States.
This enables their clients to view films and television programs on multiple devices though it appears that they may be short on Universal and Fox releases.
Hopefully this will be rectified by the time the service is enabled in Canada, though it should be noted that no official date in regards to its introduction has yet been published.